I never really understood overclocking. Usually CPU speed is not your bottleneck unless you are playing games or cracking codes. Adding RAM is usually the best way to speed up a windoze machine, simply because the software is so bloated.
Easier than that is to go in and stop all those unnecessary processes that get added on, whether you want them or not. I usually try to keep the active processes down to one page.
It seems hard to do because things like Quick Time always seem to want to stay resident if you ever start them and come back when you boot. I go through the registry fairly regularly and delete almost everything in the "run" entries.
Who said overclocking was limited to CPUs?
I overclock because of economics. I paid for a 2.4GHz P4, and overclocked it to 3.2GHz. I saved about $150 over what I'd have paid for a 3.2GHz chip. My RAM is overclocked, as is my front-side-bus, so I really did see about 30% increase in performance.
Whether the CPU, RAM, video card, north-bridge, or other components is your bottleneck depends greatly on the types of programs you're running. If you're just running MS Word? Yeah, don't overclock. If you're into gaming, though, crank that sucker for every Hz you can get out of it!
I agree, If that chip would have tested OK at a higher clock rate, they would have sold it at the higher clock rate.
This isn't the case at all. Most CPUs are intentionally
under-clocked by the manufacturer for marketing, so they can set their price points where they like them.
All processors of a certain series come off the exact same Intel assembly line, often even cut from the the same wafer. Their marketing department tells them they need a certain number of chips at different speeds, and they set price points for them. As chips come off the line, they're tested. They test for 3.2GHz until they fill that queue, then test for 3.0GHz, 2.80GHz, etc. Once they get all the 3.2GHz chips they need, they don't even test for them anymore. The next chip off the line might run at 3.8GHz, but it gets a 2.4GHz code laser-etched onto it and is tossed in a box. Eventually, if the quality of the line is good, enough fast chips are identified early and every subsequent chip off the line is sold at slower speeds and not even tested. It's luck of the draw whether you get a 2.4GHz chip that can run at 3.8GHz, or whether it was on the edge of the wafer and a few layers were sputtered too thin or whatnot and it actually IS a 2.4GHz chip. Buying a faster-marked chip does not help your chances, just garuntees it will be at leat that fast.
In my case, my RAM was my limit, not the 2.4GHz chip; I'm running at 3.2GHz at default voltage and I know could have pushed by CPU way higher than 3.2GHz, but it wasn't worth dropping the RAM and FSB speed for. My last chip was an Athlon that I unlocked the multiplier on by redrawing the laser-etched connections with a graphite pencil. I overclocked the crap out of that chip; got about 30% out of it. Only got about 5% out of my RAM, though. Eventually my watercooling rig started leaking; it never really cooled it all that great anyway so I ditched it for a nice passive phase-change heat-pipe when I built my P4 PC.
